1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to figure processing apparatus and method and a storing medium for processing outline data.
2. Related Background Art
Hitherto, a character generating apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Application No. 7-160242 has been known as a method of thickening an outline of a character. According to such a character generating apparatus, a control point constructing a shape of the outline is moved on a straight line for dividing an angle which is defined by two line segments formed by connecting two points adjacent to the control point and the control point into two equal angles, thereby enabling the outline of the character to be thickened.
The conventional character generating apparatus, however, has a problem such that in case of a character whose outlines are neighboring, there is a situation that the adjacent outlines are overlapped when the character is thickened (refer to FIG. 5B), so that a limitation occurs in a painting method of the inside after the outlines were drawn (such a method is called a scan conversion).
For example, according to the EO. Fill""s method (method whereby when an outline constructing a shape of a character is scanned by a straight line which is parallel with the x axis or y axis, a point where the outline of the character and the straight line intersect is set to an on/off point of painting and the inside is painted), the overlapped portion becomes a blank space.
According to the Non-Zero Fill""s method (method whereby whether a certain outline is an outside outline in which the inside should be painted or an inside outline in which the inside should be set to a blank space is discriminated by the rounding direction of the outline, thereby painting), in spite of a fact that there is no need to process the overlapped portion, the painting process is executed, so that not only it takes a long time for processing but also a capacity of a work memory which is used for processes increases.
It is, therefore, an object of the invention to provide figure processing apparatus and method and a storing medium, in which even if an overlap of outlines occurs, figure data of a high quality can be formed without causing a limitation to a painting method of the inside after the outlines were drawn.
Another method of the invention is to provide figure processing apparatus and method and a storing medium, in which when an overlap of outlines occurs, a load of the painting process of the inside after the outlines were drawn can be reduced.
To accomplish the above objects, there is provided a figure processing apparatus comprising: outline thickening means for thickening outlines of a figure to be edited; intersection calculating means for calculating an intersection when the thickened outlines cross; outline separating and synthesizing means for separating the intersecting outlines at the calculated intersection and synthesizing the separated outlines, thereby forming an outside outline and an inside outline; and deleting means for deleting an unnecessary outline in the synthesized outlines.